Home / Jefferson County / History of Jefferson County, West Virginia
Also a really good guide on the history of Jefferson County, WV is made into a poster format.
Jefferson County was formed from Berkeley County in 1801, and named for Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and third President of the United States. The first permanent white settlement was believed to have been made in the Shepherdstown area in 1719. In 1727, German immigrants founded the town of New Mecklenburg, later renamed Shepherdstown.
A community in Jefferson County, Harpers Ferry, WV was established in 1763, but settled as early as 1734 by Robert Harper, for whom the town was named, and who first operated ferries across the Potomac River and Shenandoah River at the point. Named Harpers Ferry when established by the Virginia assembly in 1763, the community previously had been called Shenandoah Falls. Harpers Ferry was the scene of the historic raid by John Brown, in 1859, on the government arsenal then located in Harpers Ferry. Harpers Ferry, WV is the lowest point in the State, at 484 feet above sea level.
The count Seat of Jefferson County, Charles Town, WV, was originally chartered in 1788 and named for Charles Washington, brother of George Washington, who erected here his home, "Happy Retreat," later reconstructed and named "Mordington." Scene of trial and execution of John Brown, famous abolitionist. Home of William L. Wilson, who, in 1896, while Postmaster General in President Cleveland's cabinet, established between Charles Town, Uvillia and Halltown the first rural free delivery service in America. Near here, at "Harewood," was the home of Samuel Washington, another brother of George Washington, where Dolly Payne Todd was married to James Madison, later President of the United States.
A community in Jefferson County, Ranson, WV was incorporated in 1910. Named for the members of the Ranson family, who owned the land upon which the town was built.
A community in Jefferson County, Bolivar, WV was named for Simon Bolivar, a Venezuelan patriot known as the Liberator of South America. Bolivar is located one mile west of Harpers Ferry, WV, on US Route 340.
A community in Jefferson County, Shepherdstown, WV is claimed to be the oldest town in West Virginia, presumably being settled between 1730 and 1734, although first settlers probably arrived here as early as 1719. Originally chartered in 1762 as Mecklenburg, the town's name was changed to Shepherd's Town in 1798 after Thomas Shepherd, founder of the town, and again changed to Shepherdstown in 1867. First newspaper in West Virginia, "Potowmac Guardian and Berkeley Advertiser," published here in November, 1790, by Nathaniel Willis. Here, in 1787, James Rumsey, inventor, conducted the first public trial of the first successful steamboat, and a monument to his memory has been erected by the State. It is also the location of Shepherd College.
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